'Spotty' blackout leaves some White Sox fans in dark

CHICAGO – Some DirecTV viewers received an unwelcome surprise Tuesday night when they turned on their televisions to watch the White Sox's pivotal game against the Detroit Tigers.

One Cary resident said he was informed by DirecTV he could not watch the game on CSN Chicago with DirecTV because of a blackout. Tuesday night's Sox-Tigers game drew the network's highest overall rating in three years.

DirecTV issued a statement this afternoon addressing the situation.

"During last night’s White Sox telecast on Comcast SportsNet, a select number of DirecTV customers were unable to view portions of the game," the statement read. "This was a random, technical glitch at DirecTV and we have been in communication with those affected customers. Both Comcast SportsNet and DirecTV are fully aware of this issue and will be closely monitoring tonight’s telecast to make sure those customers are able to view this game without interruption."

Bob Grim, the Sox's Senior Director of Broadcasting and Business Development, said in an email that there was a "spotty" issue Tuesday for some DirecTV subscribers in the Northwest Suburbs that prevented them from watching the game. Grim added that it was not a widespread issue, but Comcast does not know what caused the problem.

As of 3:15 p.m. today, Grim did not know if those problems would be fixed in time for tonight's game, which would again make the Sox-Tigers game unavailable to some DirecTV subscribers. However, Comcast believes the issues have been resolved and expects the game to be available tonight. Comcast said there were eight documented occurrences last night in the Northwest Suburbs.

"We and DirecTV are in the process of verifying that each of these viewers are receiving the 1:30 pm CT replay this afternoon on DirecTV ch. 665," a Comcast rep said in an email. "They expect no issues this evening but will continue to be vigilant and responsive to their customers. We will continue to monitor as well."